peerage

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peerage British nobility holding any of the following titles: Baron, Viscount, Earl, Marquess or Duke. Although all titles were originally hereditary, these are now rare, and non-hereditary life peerages are more usually granted. Peers constitute the Lords Temporal section of the House of Lords. In 2001, the number of hereditary peers reduced and the first list of so-called ‘people's peers’ introduced.

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